DPW Blog

Hello, I’m Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca with the Democratic response to Gov. Walker’s State of the State Address. 

The secrecy and appearance of corruption that has marred Wisconsin government this past year leaves our state's reputation in tatters. And the abuses of power that took place during this secretive, dishonest approach to governing, impact every other issue we face.

This year began with the governor "dropping the bomb" of effectively killing collective bargaining for public workers. He expected a rushed vote without debate or scrutiny in less than a week. And he refused to sit down, look his employees in the eye and talk about it.

Thinking back over this past year, it is easy to get disheartened, discouraged ... even upset. Wisconsin has changed dramatically, and there is much I no longer recognize about our state.

Wisconsin used to be among the leading states in the nation in education, in health care quality and access, and we had a reputation for clean and open government, civil dialogue and reasonable political solutions.

As 2011 comes to a close, unfortunately we now lead the nation in job loss. We are second in the nation in cuts to public education. And, we lead the nation in political polarization. Wisconsin is, sadly, a state divided.

This Thanksgiving I hope we all have many reasons to give thanks. Last week, we Wisconsinites were given another reason to be thankful.

That's when the 30 soldiers from the West Bend-based 2nd Battalion, 135th General Aviation Support Battalion returned home, making them the final members of the Wisconsin National Guard to leave Iraq. Their unit spent nine months providing medevac support in northern Iraq alongside National Guard Soldiers from several other states.

Wisconsin simply can't afford to have Scott Walker and his Republican cronies in charge of state government any longer. We must recall Scott Walker and continue the hard work needed to take back the Assembly.

Please visit our new website at www.AssemblyDemocrats.com and consider making a donation so we can take back the assembly and get our government working for everyone again -- not just those in Scott Walker's inner circle.